Russia says the U.S. should back off Iran — because Ferguson

The deadly anti-government protests rocking Iran have sparked a fiery exchange between Iranian and American diplomats, with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, calling on “all freedom-loving people” to back the demonstrators, and Iran slamming Haley's statement as “nauseous crocodile tears.”

Never one to miss a good spat with the U.S., Russia jumped into the mix Tuesday, saying the U.S. needs to mind its own business after what went down in Ferguson, Missouri, and Zuccotti Park.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova fired off a statement dripping with sarcasm and aimed directly at Haley.

“There is no doubt that the U.S. delegation has something to tell the world,” Zakharova wrote on Facebook. “For example, Nikki Haley can share America’s experience in breaking up protests, going into detail about how, say, the mass arrests and the stifling of the Occupy Wall Street movement happened or how Ferguson was ‘quelled.’”

Read more: Why Iran’s government is cracking down on Instagram and Telegram

The city of Ferguson, Missouri, near St. Louis, became a flashpoint for violence between protesters and police following the shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in August 2014, creating a spiraling standoff that resulted in curfews and the deployment of militarized police and riot squads.

At the time, the governments of Russia, Egypt, and Iran openly criticized the U.S. response — and at least one American analyst studying Russian affairs, Mark Adomanis, predicted that the image of American cops cracking down on protesters would give Moscow a potent new argument against Washington in future debates over human rights, and freedom of expression.

“Dear Ferguson Police Department: Dmitry Kiselyov sends you his thanks,” Adomanis tweeted in 2014, referring to the Kremlin’s top propagandist. “You just gave him his next year's worth of talking points.”

Read more: Everything you need to know about the Iran protests

Twenty-one people have been killed in widespread anti-government demonstrations in Iran that began last Thursday. The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, has blamed the rallies on forces “announced by [former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton to create riot, anarchy, insecurity, and intrigue in Iran.”

Haley called Iranian attempts to hang the blame on foreign adversaries “complete nonsense.”

On Wednesday, Tehran continued its forceful response to anti-government protests, deploying the country's elite Revolutionary Guard and broadcasting images of pro-government rallies. Pushed out on state-sponsored TV, the pro-government demonstrations showed thousands marching through the streets of Tehran chanting “Death to America.”